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Colletti: Dodgers' run extends beyond team's stars

Colletti: Dodgers' run extends beyond team's stars

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A.J. Ellis on Dodgers' win 1:11

8/17/13: A.J. Ellis breaks down the Dodgers' 5-0 victory vs. the Phillies which helped stretch their winning streak to 10 games

By Andrew Simon
/
MLB.com |

In the midst of his team's historic run of success, general manager Ned Colletti joined Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette on MLB Network Radio on Sunday morning to give his take on what has spurred the Dodgers.

Colletti's team was in Philadelphia looking for its 11th straight win and 43rd in 51 games. The Dodgers' 5-0 win over the Phillies on Saturday made them 42-8 since June 22, matching the 1941 Yankees and 1942 Cardinals for the best 50-game stretch since 1900.

"This is all going to sound cliche, but really there's so many people that have given us the past 50 games, it goes around the board, including the bullpen," he said. "The bullpen's been very good, our starting pitching's been very good, [Yasiel] Puig's been great, Hanley [Ramirez] has been great, but people overlook sometimes [Nick] Punto and [Skip] Schumaker and [Jerry] Hairston and the Ellises [A.J. and Mark]. It's in a good spot right now, but that said, we've got about 15 million more miles to go."

Even more help could be on the way as Colletti offered updates on reliever Brian Wilson and outfielder Matt Kemp.

Wilson, the former Giants closer is with the team and threw a simulated game on Friday but has not yet been activated. Colletti said that should happen in "another day or two."

"We want to see how he's coming back," he said of Wilson, who is coming off Tommy John surgery. "He threw a sim game the other day and we want to make sure we're not rushing him."

Colletti explained that the Dodgers signed Wilson after not finding a satisfactory bullpen piece on the trade market. Wilson cost money, but not prospects, and the Dodgers are highly familiar with his abilities from his days with San Francisco.

"So we think it's a very low-risk, high-reward situation," Colletti said. "He wanted to be here. He has a home in L.A. Rivalry and all that aside -- we all know what that's all about -- he wanted to restart his career and we're going to give him that opportunity here in the near future."

Kemp does not figure to join the club so soon. The center fielder has been out with a sprained left ankle since July 22.

"He gets close and then he has a little bit of a setback," Colletti said. "The ankle is such a tricky injury to come back from because you can get it about 95 percent of the way there, and you step the wrong way, whether it's on a field or walking down the street, and suddenly you're set back another 50 percent or so."

At one point, the club thought Kemp might go on a Minor League rehab assignment during its current road trip and then rejoin the team back in Los Angeles, but that is no longer the case, according to Colletti.

"It looks like it's going to be a few more days before we get to that crossroads of a decision on that," he said.

Andrew Simon is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @HitTheCutoff. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.